Folding side guard for hospital and other beds



April 27, 1954 J. P. LEONE EI'AL FOLDING SIDE-GUARD FOR HOSPITAL AND OTHER BEDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 19, 1955 'M/I/EA/TOE JMEPH P Zt'O/VE 0. VfCC/l/OLA QM A'TTO/F/VEY April 27, 1954 J. P. LEONE ETAL GUARD FOR HOSPITAL AND OTHER BEDS FOLDING SIDE Filed May 19, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0414050. Zmw/au 1977' ORA f Y Patented Apr. 27, 1954 UN I TE D S 5 OFFICE FOLDING SIDE GUARD FOR HOSPITAL AND OTHER BEDS Joseph P. Leone and Davide-DanteVecchiola,-. Quincy, Mass.

Application May 19, .1953, SeriaI'NO. 355,966

5 Claims.

This invention relates to a folding side-guard designed especially for use in connection with hospital beds to prevent a patient'frcm rollingor falling off from the bed.

An object of the invention ing guard which is simple in constructionand which when folded will not interferein any way with the normal use of the bed.

In the drawings wherein we have illustrated a selected embodiment of the invention:

Fig. l isa perspective view or"- a hospital bed equipped with our new folding side-guards" and showing the guards-'inraised operative position. Fig. 2 isanenlargedsectitn on'the line 2-2, Fig. 1. I r

Fig. 3 is a side View of a bed equipped with our folding guard, the full lines-illustrating the guard position and the dotted lines illus-- guard "in its raised operative position.

which also is shown as extending substantially the full lengthiof the bed, said rails. being pivotally connected by means of connecting members I which are pivoted at their lower ends to the hotter. rail 5 as. indicate'd'at upper ends to the top rail 6 as indicated at 21. The members i are allof the same-length and becausez'of their p-hlotalconnections they permit top rail i to be moved iromits'operative position down intoa'fold'ed position lying adjacent and parallel to the bottom raila The'fololingmo While any" suitable meanszmay'be employed For attaching the ends of the bottom rail '5 tothe lids member l, a simple;- attaching means: is ierein shown comprising support members 8 vhich are rigidly secured at their lower ends to he side member 4 and at their upper ends to the ottom rail 5, thereby holding said rail in fixed 5 osition.

is to providea foldshowing the =1 frame the bed and is stationarily mounted on the side member 4, and a top rail i;

it and at their inner face ofthe 'top'rail ii.-

5 the top rail 6 from the bolt as, and

It will-be noted-that the supportmembers 8-are secured at their lower ends to the outside face of the side member d and at their upper ends to the inside face of the bottom rail 5.

With this construction; the bottom rail of the side-guard will be located in a vertical plane'out-- side of and spaced slightly from the side member 4 and themattress frame which supports the usual mattress.

support the bottom rail 5 at about alevel' of the mattressframe.

The lowerend's of the connecting members I overlie andare pivoted to the outer face of the bottom-rail 5; whilethe upper ends of said con-- nesting members overlie and are pivoted to the Hence, when the side-guard isfolded the top rail will occupy a positionparallel to and in thesame horizontal plane as the bottom-rail abut will be spaced therefrom, asshow-n inn-1g. 4, and the connecting members 'iwill all lie parallel to the folded top and bottom rails-"and'will be located between said rails. In its folded condition the entire side-guard thus occupiesavery small space and is located below-the mattress,- and therefore, will not interfere-"many way the bed.

The bottomraildis-provided at its lower edge with outwardly directed lips t'whichform rests- I or support's forthetcp rail it when it is in its folded position, and which also function as stops to limit-the folding movement thereof. These lips be provided for by securing angle bracketsi ii to the bottom rail with the horizontal v leg of thebracltet projecting beyond said rail-and thus providing the supporting lip ii.

The top rail t is heldinits raised or operative position by detachably connecting it to the head frame 2. As herein'shown; the head frame carrise atransversely extending screw-threaded bolt 55 the end of thetop rail has a clamping not it rotativel mounted thereon which is adapted to be screw-threaded onto said bolt therebydetachablysecuringthe-top rail to the 7 bed frame:

The nut-5d has ahub portion 33 which extends through an opening in the-top rail :3, and said not is'retainedin'position by a plate which rail by a sorew'tti and the end' of which is resolved a groovewith.wl'iichathexnut is provided.

The not I therefore always attached to the top.

rail, thus eliminating any danger that it might become lost.

The folding of the side-guard involves unscrewing the clamping nut i l thereby disengaging then swinging The support members 8 have a proper-length to with the normal use ofis secured to 1 the top the connecting members I about their pivotal connections 16 with the bottom rail, thereby moving the top rail 6 down into its folded position against the lips ii. When the top rail is brought into this folded position one of the end connecting members and the corresponding end portion of the top rail will project beyond the end of the bed, thereby presenting a hazard. If the top rail is mounted to be folded toward the head end of the bed, the head end of the folded rail will project beyond the head frame of the bed, while if said top rail is mounted to be folded toward the foot of the bed, as shown in the drawings, the foot connecting member la and the foot end of said folded top rail will project beyond the foot frame of the bed, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

If allowed to remain in this position the projecting end of the top rail and the connecting member la would present a hazard, as stated above, and, therefore, we have provided a construction by which such projecting end and the folded end connecting member la may be folded. downwardly into a vertical position as shown in Fig. 3.

For this purpose the top rail 6 is made in two sections, a long main section if and a short end section la, the section it being at the foot end of the top rail and having a length equal to that of the connecting member 'la. The short foot end section it of the top rail is pivoted to the section ll, as shown at E9, and as stated above the length of the end section it is such that when the side-guard is folded the pivot is by which the end section it is connected to the main section ll will be brought into axial alinement with the pivotal connection M3 by which the end connecting member Ea is pivoted to the bottom rail 5. When the bottom rail has been swung into its folded position, the end section it together with the connecting member Ea can be swung downwardly into the full line position, Fig. 3, because of the axial alinement of the two pivot points l9 and it. Hence, although the top rail has a length substantially equal to that of the bed, yet when the side-guard is folded the foot end section 18 of the top rail as well as the folded connecting member lot will be lo cated in its depending vertical position shown in Fig. 3 and will thus be entirely out of the way.

If desired, the top rail may carry auxiliary guard members 26 which are secured to the under side of the top rail and which occupy the spaces between the connecting members i when the side-guard is in its raised operative position. Since the auxiliary guards 20 are in the same vertical plane as the top rail 6, they do not interfere with the folding operation.

The top rail 6 is provided with projections or knobs 23 which the attendant may grasp when swinging the top rail 6 from its open or operative position shown in Fig. 1 into its folded position shown in full lines, Fig. 3, thereby avoiding the danger of pinching her fingers between the top rail and the connecting member 1 as the sideguard approaches its folded position. These knobs are also helpful in swinging the side-guard from its folded to its open position.

It will be understood that a side-guard embodying our invention may be used on both sides of a 7 bed, as shown in Fig. 1, or on only one side, provided the bed is placed against a wall.

In the device illustrated in the drawings, the side-guard is divided by the connecting membore 1, la into four divisions, but it may be constructed to present a less number of divisions if desired.

We claim:

1. A folding side-guard for a bed, said sideguard comprising a bottom rail having a length substantially the same as that of the bed, means for fixedly attaching said bottom rail to the bed frame at approximately the level of mattress frame, a top rail having substantially the same length as the bottom rail, a plurality of connecting members of equal length pivotally connected at their lower ends to the bottom rail, and also pivotally connected at their upper ends to the top rail, whereby the top rail may be moved from a raised operative position above the bottom rail into a lowered folded position along side said bottom rail, said top rail presenting a long main section and a shorter end section pivotally connected together, said shorter end section having a length equal to that of the connecting members, whereby when the top rail is folded the pivotal connection between the two sections thereof comes into axial aiinement with the pivotal connection between the end connecting member and the bottom rail, thereby permitting said end section and the end connecting member to swing as a unit about the alined axes into a vertical position depending from the bottom rail.

2. A side-guard for beds as defined in claim 1 in which the lower ends of the connecting members are pivoted to and overlie the outer face of the bottom rail, and the upper ends of said connecting members are pivoted to and overiie the inner face of the top rail, whereby when the side-guard is folded the top rail is in the same horizontal plane as and outside the bottom rail and the connecting members are parallel to the top and bottom rails and lie therebetween.

3. A folding side-guard for beds as set forth in claim 1 in which the means for attaching the bottom rail to the bed frame comprises a plurality of rigid support members each rigidly connected at its lower end to the bed frame and at its upper end to the bottom rail, said support member being of a length to hold the bottom rail at approximately the level of the mattress frame.

A folding side-guard for beds as defined in claim 1 in which the bottom rail has stops projecting therefrom which limit the folding movement of the main section of the top rail and serve to support it in its folded condition.

5. A folding side-guard for beds as defined in claim 1 in which the top rail is provided with knobs which may be grasped an attendant when swinging the top rail from its open operative position to its folded position.

References cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,761,214 Koeck June 3, 193( 2,115,111 Lobb Apr. 1 2, ,2 1 Des Rochers Feb. 26, 195i 

